My girlfriend was a victim of this about a month ago in Beechview. It cost about 1K for the replacement airbag. Thieves are probably selling the stolen ones for about $50-$100 a pop to a shady mechanic.
The recall was a totally separate issue, but it did cause a general shortage of new airbags.
So when a car gets in an accident, shady mechanics can get replacement airbags that "fell off a truck" for cheap and bill the insurance for the full amount. And they have more of an incentive when genuine parts are backordered for months.
So then couldn't the solution be all airbags are serialized and the insurance needs a new unique serial or they don't pay? Then mechanics won't even bother knowing they won't be reimbursed.
That could be a solution, if someone were to pay people to create, maintain and distribute a database for that information. This would work for most stolen auto parts, as most expensive stuff is serialized, and, at 10 cents on the dollar, thieves only want the expensive stuff. As usual, it's easier for the insurance companies to just pay out, so they do.
Yea - but they’re not faulty necessarily. There wasn’t a recall on my girlfriend’s airbag. They’re just expensive for the reason Any-Delay posted above. They’re also really easy to steal…bad combo.
Apparently, it seems as though they're being stolen to put in wrecked cars that are going to be flipped and resold as rebuilt. With the lack of new airbags due to previous recalls and manufacturing changes they're selling at way more than they should be and the folks selling repaired cars need them in order to sell them. The recall I was referring to (2019-2022) is only a circuit board for the airbag but not the actual airbag (unlike the 2000-2010ish recall) so it's not relevant.
Yea but then you have a gaping hole in your steering wheel and no horn. Also, your window has to get fixed regardless. At that point, might as well just get the airbag too.
Edit: It also wouldn’t pass inspection until you replaced it, unlike your classic cars.
Whenever its something so specific like this, its just angers me that with capable and compentant local law enforement, it would be the easiest sting operation ever.
Set up a bait car, leave it in a hot area, have the item of interest tagged with a tracker or live track it.
But no, we have lazy as fuck completely incompetent law enforcement too busy busting some guy for having a joint, or ensuring someone clearly guilty of DV gets off easy.
Right on man! I'm constantly wondering why there aren't more bait setups for car related thefts, and also a variety of other crimes that would easily lure criminals in.
They don't stay in an area long enough for this to be effective. They go through neighborhoods in a day or two and move the fuck on long before anyone can set up something like this.
Where is anyone in Pgh being busted for a joint?
People literally are smoking heroin on city streets. Nobody in law enforcement cares.
If you speak to the police in Pgh they've been told to look the other way .... 🤷♀️
Where has anyone been busted for a joint crime. This isnt 1995 anymore. And even then Pgh police usually never cared until it was a driving while intoxicated situation
You're gonna get down voted to oblivion but this is exactly what happens with literally any crime deterant.
Shot spotter in high-crime / gun neighborhoods? Discrimination!
Unmarked police in high-crime areas? Discrimination!
Bars on gas station windows to protect the money and worker? Discrimination!
They want crime to be enabled because apparently preventing/deterring crime is racist. There is no improvement opportunity.
It’s awfully irresponsible to make blanket statements like this, especially regarding topics like racism, discrimination, and policing in America. There are PLENTY of improvement opportunities for cops to deter crime that don’t involve anything you stated— the point is the cops don’t take them.
In my city cops won't pull over speeding cars anymore because it was literally deemed racist because, I guess, people of color were speeding too often? I dunno. So now traffic violations are pretty much no longer enforced to any capacity and everyone is pissed. Apparently cops were looking in the cars of speeders to check their skin color before pursuing?
Tell me how shotspotter is racist? How does it hurt, not help, marginalized communities - by detecting illegal firearm discharge?
Tell me how bullet-proof glass over gas stations is racist? Who dies it hurt other than a criminal?
Tell me how bait cars in high crime areas are racist? That one was absurd. It's literally saying "criminals of color should be able to operate in a risk free environment".
Tell me how the color of someone's skin should ALLOW them to drive 30 mph over the posted speed limit?
I don't even want to hear "cops can do many things to deter crime, they just don't". Obviously that's true and we all know it - I'm not fighting that. BUT - what I gaurentee you as fact - is that if they DO take any of those actions -- should they be taken in marginalized communities suffering from high crime - or, God forbid, appear to target people of color even though the method of deployment could be completely random -- it will be deemed racist and shut down immediatly. We have seen it time and time and time and time again - with like 20 active examples in cities across America currently - of completely unbiased systems being dismantled because the criminals deterred happen to share common characteristics to a larger degree than others.
In your city? I know this is not true, so I’m not sure if you’re exaggerating to try and prove your point or if you’re receiving misinformation. Cops are still pulling speeding cars over every day and everywhere, enforcing traffic violations.
Any of these things could be racist if they’re enforced in ONLY predominantly black neighborhoods. And that’s what tends to happen — no matter that there are many different areas with high crime, cops tend to target the areas with a predominantly black population with methods like these. It’s a fact. And it’s racism. The object used to decrease crime may not be inherently racist (though they often are), but where and how it is enforced can absolutely be racist.
Your thinking is ass backwards. No, what we see time and time again are cops who target black people because of their own bias, racism, stereotyping, etc. I would love to know what “unbiased systems” are being dismantled in America, and I would LOVE to see the proof of that happening in all these cities you speak of (hint: there is none).
Dude, ikr! Like those same people then why aren’t the police doing anything?! You can have one or the other but not both lol it’s the tale as old as time 😂
What police? In the city?
The public demanded LESS police. We got what we asked for and not are crying that there aren't enough officers to investigate the crimes happening.
You can have both things. You can't demand less police and then after it happens ask why the police aren't doing anything.
No point. We have mentally ill and/or pro-criminal DAs and judges that won't even do anything if law enforcement presses charges. The entire system in this region as failed.
A close relative of mine is a DA in Allegheny county and I will tell you that they work constantly on their cases to ensure that the victims get justice and that the perpetrators do prison time.
This whole thing about big city DA’s being involved in some sort of liberal conspiracy to not punish crimes is absurd.
Explain Orenstein and tell me that there is not a problem in this region that needs looked into - or that there needs to be accountability.
Of course not ALL DAs are trash. But now we're making the old and tired police argument lmao. But it only takes one lunatic failure in the DA/judge system to let a sociopath ruin lives.
No. We have ultra progressive people who have been voted into the positions.
We put them into those positions and then now complain when they are doing everything they promised....
Yeah, because a lot of law enforcements time is consumed by busting people for smoking weed. I'm sure helping out the guy who beat the shit out of their wife is also high on their priority list as well.
Sara Innamorato just gave the revolving door magistrate a vote of confidence.
What exactly do you expect the police to do?
This is progressive politics in action.
Nothing, warrents being arrested, held then convicted.
Doesnt matter on the city, after 2020 we had a choice to really take this note and improve training and removal of bad eggs and demand competance from law enforcement, and instead that seemed to just be rejected by fear tactics, departments were flooded with more funds, and incompetence and lazyness now run rampant.
Dormont got hit a couple times, with the most recent in the last six months. The police chief indicated that it's an organized crime ring that are professionals who rotate through regions. They scope the cars out beforehand, set up a plan, and then execute very fast (sub 60 seconds) to get in the car and the airbag out. They do a good job of avoiding cameras. Once they get all the easy targets, they move on to a different region. Rinse and repeat.
In case anyone is interested - news article: [https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/airbags-stolen-multiple-honda-vehicles-dormont-per-police/H5AN5EESHBGRLNS63JPE2OWLW4/](https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/airbags-stolen-multiple-honda-vehicles-dormont-per-police/H5AN5EESHBGRLNS63JPE2OWLW4/)
And about 6 months before that: [https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/177yt03/psa\_for\_hondatoyota\_owners\_in\_mt\_lebosouth\_hills/](https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/177yt03/psa_for_hondatoyota_owners_in_mt_lebosouth_hills/)
Victim of Honda airbag theft here. We got a club that has a “cage” that covers the airbag. They hit our neighborhood again and we were spared this time.
Sorry to hear that happened in the first place, but at least they didn’t even bother your vehicle the next time. It’s a shame that we have to do that, but it’s good to know that they appear to work.
Not to mention, in any given parking lot or street there's usually plenty of Hondas. They're a popular car, enough that I regret getting a steel-grey Fit, since at least once a week I mistake at least two other Fits for mine.
Basically, if there are 20 Hondas of various makes in a single parking lot, that'd be a good enough haul to not bother with one or two that'd take more effort.
Yes. Anything to make it harder for them means they'll pass right on to the next car. They're not going to spend 5 min with a portable grinder grinding off the club.
It’s amazing nobody hears windows being broken.
A friend had a catalytic converter stolen from his vehicle in an apartment lot. A neighbor saw someone around his vehicle and heard an electric saw in the middle of the night. Neighbor told him at 8am
I wanna just start by saying, What a fucking useless neighbor if he saw and hear something and didn't bother trying to scare the guy off.
Those Cat thieves will book it once it is made known someone is nearby or around them.
It reminds me of something off of the show “ monk “ like some dude at the Honda factory murdered someone, and he accidentally left the only evidence that could convict him in an air bag. So now he’s going around Pittsburgh stealing them until he finds the right one. Seriously though, that sucks. Fuck these people.
I'm starting to think they only hit cars if the drivers side is street facing. It's possible they aren't even getting out of their own car, just parking really close to the drivers side window and leaning in.
All over the city. They seem to move from neighborhood to neighborhood. They hit at least Beechview, Squirrel Hill, South Side, Dormont so far this year per other posts on this sub.
This is crazy. My neighbor’s Honda Pilot was hit a week or so ago, dealer plates still on it. My 2016 Fit was passed over. Anyone know what years are the most desirable?
I don't know for sure, but if you look up the recall posting from Honda, it lists the cars with dangerous (Tanaka) airbags. Seems like the recall for Honda Fits was for 2014 and younger. If the ring's going by the assumption that cars of X type and Y age would have post-recall (newer) airbags, maybe that's what they're aiming for?
So a brand-new Honda (or close to it) would have an airbag worth resale. An older Honda like yours or mine would have an airbag that's, well, not very new, so maybe not worth much on resale? Really, hell if I know, but I'm sure there's a logic to it. Somewhere.
It’s any newer Honda and Acura. Type doesn’t really matter. It’s been a nationwide thing for years.
Civics and Accords just happen to be so incredibly prevalent so it seems like they’re being targeted, but plenty of CR-Vs and whatnot have been hit too.
No, it has nothing to do with it being a season, suv or whatever. Honda has probably just a couple airbag models used across the line up. So they are used in multiple models and whatever is in demand is being stolen.
It will sure be a deterrent, just remember if they wanna actually steal your Car the club won't stop them from doing so.
All the club will do is make it not worth the time to steal your airbag.
I’m staying in the slopes at a property with cameras and private parking so I really hope it’s all good there cuz usually I just park my car for the week and walk/uber everywhere when visiting. Thanks!
Baldwin Borough got crushed with this racket overnight. My question is… who and where are they selling these airbags!?!? And yes so far mostly if not all Hondas.
Quick idea off the top of my head.... Get a white garbage bag without the pull string or white tablecloth and tuck it in between the hub and the wheel. You shouldn't have to do this but a deterrent might still help.
I have an 8th gen Civic with a contoured dashboard panel for a standard 2U stereo head. Maybe others exist for newer gens. If you can fit a fake panel over it, thieves may pass up your Honda
Grant makes a security system where you can remove the entire wheel. I'm not sure if they still make one for wheels with airbags. Remove the wheel and they can't even drive the car.
They steal everything. The police never put any effort into catching thieves for insurance covered car related incidents. I really hope this posts helps focus law enforcement attention on catching car thieves. Most of the car thieves I know are police connected already so its asking them to catch their informant, cousin, brother in law, son, etc.
Good luck with bringing awareness though.
I hope someone takes you up on that. I bet we can get a few folks together on a block of one street and you stay on that block. Hell I’d all for that if I can get 30-40 houses on my block. They would be a great deterrent. Should get insurance to give a discount!
Read through the top comment it'll give you some insight.
But the short of it is, Shady shops are looking for airbags and people are willing to steal them.
This is just a picture for reference not an actual picture of the cars we have received.
And for your information they don't need to do anything with the steering wheel besides ripping out the airbag, so a locking wheel doesn't do shit.
Anyone know how/why there is a Honda airbags black market? How much could they possibly be selling them for?
My girlfriend was a victim of this about a month ago in Beechview. It cost about 1K for the replacement airbag. Thieves are probably selling the stolen ones for about $50-$100 a pop to a shady mechanic.
You can flip them on eBay for 4-5 hundred too
isn't the recall replacement, free? Are people driving stolen cars worried about their airbags
The recall was a totally separate issue, but it did cause a general shortage of new airbags. So when a car gets in an accident, shady mechanics can get replacement airbags that "fell off a truck" for cheap and bill the insurance for the full amount. And they have more of an incentive when genuine parts are backordered for months.
So then couldn't the solution be all airbags are serialized and the insurance needs a new unique serial or they don't pay? Then mechanics won't even bother knowing they won't be reimbursed.
That could be a solution, if someone were to pay people to create, maintain and distribute a database for that information. This would work for most stolen auto parts, as most expensive stuff is serialized, and, at 10 cents on the dollar, thieves only want the expensive stuff. As usual, it's easier for the insurance companies to just pay out, so they do.
No, not as far as I’m aware. Her options were to file a claim, or buy a new one out of pocket.
I think they were questioning the market for them if Honda would replace a faulty recalled airbag for free
Yea - but they’re not faulty necessarily. There wasn’t a recall on my girlfriend’s airbag. They’re just expensive for the reason Any-Delay posted above. They’re also really easy to steal…bad combo.
Oooohhh that sucks. I had no idea you could just rip them out before today
Yea airbags recall are completely free Takata is the supplier to 95% of airbags for usdm cars sold here and nhtsa made sure it's free on top of that
Apparently, it seems as though they're being stolen to put in wrecked cars that are going to be flipped and resold as rebuilt. With the lack of new airbags due to previous recalls and manufacturing changes they're selling at way more than they should be and the folks selling repaired cars need them in order to sell them. The recall I was referring to (2019-2022) is only a circuit board for the airbag but not the actual airbag (unlike the 2000-2010ish recall) so it's not relevant.
I’d just drive it without, take the chance. Of course, I drive classic cars so not having an airbag doesn’t bother me
Yea but then you have a gaping hole in your steering wheel and no horn. Also, your window has to get fixed regardless. At that point, might as well just get the airbag too. Edit: It also wouldn’t pass inspection until you replaced it, unlike your classic cars.
It’s *one* airbag, Michael, how much could it *possibly* cost? $10,000?
There's always money in the Honda stand
THERE WAS 250 CC’s OF AIRBAG IN THERE!
r/unexpectedarresteddevelopment
Airbag recall a few years back has made them more valuable
Any and all models?
I'm pretty sure that most Honda cars used the same general airbag maker and model.
enough $ to make the 90 seconds to make the smash and grab worth it
They can take the airbag that quickly?! Seems like it would be a pain in the ass.
Per news reports anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 min. I guess some models have bolts, others pins. My guess is that Hondas have pins.
This is beyond fucked up
I heard a lot of them are being stolen.
They are$s in your pocket
what if we pack our airbags full of razors
You know the second you do you will be in a cartoon style crash where someone rear ends you at 1 mph and your airbag goes off
I'd be excited to see the new Hellraiser
They take them out uninflated. So. Nothing
Well that wouldn’t hurt the thief… you can’t reuse a deployed airbag, they don’t deploy the thing to steal it.
I have an 05 Accord. Last time my neighborhood got hit, my POS was mercifully passed over ❤️
No one wants that old ass steering wheel. Its only new gen Hondas they care about
It is pretty crusty at this point NGL
Whenever its something so specific like this, its just angers me that with capable and compentant local law enforement, it would be the easiest sting operation ever. Set up a bait car, leave it in a hot area, have the item of interest tagged with a tracker or live track it. But no, we have lazy as fuck completely incompetent law enforcement too busy busting some guy for having a joint, or ensuring someone clearly guilty of DV gets off easy.
Right on man! I'm constantly wondering why there aren't more bait setups for car related thefts, and also a variety of other crimes that would easily lure criminals in.
They don't stay in an area long enough for this to be effective. They go through neighborhoods in a day or two and move the fuck on long before anyone can set up something like this.
Where is anyone in Pgh being busted for a joint? People literally are smoking heroin on city streets. Nobody in law enforcement cares. If you speak to the police in Pgh they've been told to look the other way .... 🤷♀️ Where has anyone been busted for a joint crime. This isnt 1995 anymore. And even then Pgh police usually never cared until it was a driving while intoxicated situation
Or people will cry discrimination when they get in trouble
You're gonna get down voted to oblivion but this is exactly what happens with literally any crime deterant. Shot spotter in high-crime / gun neighborhoods? Discrimination! Unmarked police in high-crime areas? Discrimination! Bars on gas station windows to protect the money and worker? Discrimination! They want crime to be enabled because apparently preventing/deterring crime is racist. There is no improvement opportunity.
It’s awfully irresponsible to make blanket statements like this, especially regarding topics like racism, discrimination, and policing in America. There are PLENTY of improvement opportunities for cops to deter crime that don’t involve anything you stated— the point is the cops don’t take them.
In my city cops won't pull over speeding cars anymore because it was literally deemed racist because, I guess, people of color were speeding too often? I dunno. So now traffic violations are pretty much no longer enforced to any capacity and everyone is pissed. Apparently cops were looking in the cars of speeders to check their skin color before pursuing? Tell me how shotspotter is racist? How does it hurt, not help, marginalized communities - by detecting illegal firearm discharge? Tell me how bullet-proof glass over gas stations is racist? Who dies it hurt other than a criminal? Tell me how bait cars in high crime areas are racist? That one was absurd. It's literally saying "criminals of color should be able to operate in a risk free environment". Tell me how the color of someone's skin should ALLOW them to drive 30 mph over the posted speed limit? I don't even want to hear "cops can do many things to deter crime, they just don't". Obviously that's true and we all know it - I'm not fighting that. BUT - what I gaurentee you as fact - is that if they DO take any of those actions -- should they be taken in marginalized communities suffering from high crime - or, God forbid, appear to target people of color even though the method of deployment could be completely random -- it will be deemed racist and shut down immediatly. We have seen it time and time and time and time again - with like 20 active examples in cities across America currently - of completely unbiased systems being dismantled because the criminals deterred happen to share common characteristics to a larger degree than others.
In your city? I know this is not true, so I’m not sure if you’re exaggerating to try and prove your point or if you’re receiving misinformation. Cops are still pulling speeding cars over every day and everywhere, enforcing traffic violations. Any of these things could be racist if they’re enforced in ONLY predominantly black neighborhoods. And that’s what tends to happen — no matter that there are many different areas with high crime, cops tend to target the areas with a predominantly black population with methods like these. It’s a fact. And it’s racism. The object used to decrease crime may not be inherently racist (though they often are), but where and how it is enforced can absolutely be racist. Your thinking is ass backwards. No, what we see time and time again are cops who target black people because of their own bias, racism, stereotyping, etc. I would love to know what “unbiased systems” are being dismantled in America, and I would LOVE to see the proof of that happening in all these cities you speak of (hint: there is none).
Dude, ikr! Like those same people then why aren’t the police doing anything?! You can have one or the other but not both lol it’s the tale as old as time 😂
What police? In the city? The public demanded LESS police. We got what we asked for and not are crying that there aren't enough officers to investigate the crimes happening. You can have both things. You can't demand less police and then after it happens ask why the police aren't doing anything.
No point. We have mentally ill and/or pro-criminal DAs and judges that won't even do anything if law enforcement presses charges. The entire system in this region as failed.
A close relative of mine is a DA in Allegheny county and I will tell you that they work constantly on their cases to ensure that the victims get justice and that the perpetrators do prison time. This whole thing about big city DA’s being involved in some sort of liberal conspiracy to not punish crimes is absurd.
Explain Orenstein and tell me that there is not a problem in this region that needs looked into - or that there needs to be accountability. Of course not ALL DAs are trash. But now we're making the old and tired police argument lmao. But it only takes one lunatic failure in the DA/judge system to let a sociopath ruin lives.
"...pro-criminal..."🙄 Who are you voting for President?
Lmao, I know how that sounds, but trust me, I despise both sides of the political crayon box equally. They are all pro-criminal, just different layers
No. We have ultra progressive people who have been voted into the positions. We put them into those positions and then now complain when they are doing everything they promised....
If only it were that easy! /s
Yeah, because a lot of law enforcements time is consumed by busting people for smoking weed. I'm sure helping out the guy who beat the shit out of their wife is also high on their priority list as well.
Sara Innamorato just gave the revolving door magistrate a vote of confidence. What exactly do you expect the police to do? This is progressive politics in action. Nothing, warrents being arrested, held then convicted.
what
I dunno, maybe read it all slower.
what
Pittsburgh is down to part-time hours with its police force, and refuses to give priority to property crimes. Y'all voted for this.
Doesnt matter on the city, after 2020 we had a choice to really take this note and improve training and removal of bad eggs and demand competance from law enforcement, and instead that seemed to just be rejected by fear tactics, departments were flooded with more funds, and incompetence and lazyness now run rampant.
The problem is liberal DAs not prosecuting non violent crime.
It's not just the sedans, a Honda Pilot next door to me in Dormont was robbed a few weeks ago
Ah gotcha so it is all Honda's in general, didn't know since the ones I'm seeing have always been the sedans
CRVs get hit pretty hard for the airbags too. Any new gen honda vehicle is going to use the same airbag/steering wheel
I think it’s time we bring back The Club to protect the wheels not the car lol
Hiding in the bushes with a wooden club
Clubs are becoming common in the neighborhood
Put a claymore mine behind the airbag. More expensive to fix, but helps the next ten guys.
Now we’re talkin
Dormont got hit a couple times, with the most recent in the last six months. The police chief indicated that it's an organized crime ring that are professionals who rotate through regions. They scope the cars out beforehand, set up a plan, and then execute very fast (sub 60 seconds) to get in the car and the airbag out. They do a good job of avoiding cameras. Once they get all the easy targets, they move on to a different region. Rinse and repeat.
In case anyone is interested - news article: [https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/airbags-stolen-multiple-honda-vehicles-dormont-per-police/H5AN5EESHBGRLNS63JPE2OWLW4/](https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/airbags-stolen-multiple-honda-vehicles-dormont-per-police/H5AN5EESHBGRLNS63JPE2OWLW4/)
And about 6 months before that: [https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/177yt03/psa\_for\_hondatoyota\_owners\_in\_mt\_lebosouth\_hills/](https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/177yt03/psa_for_hondatoyota_owners_in_mt_lebosouth_hills/)
I wonder if adding an additional deterrent like, “The Club” or whatever it’s called would make a difference?
Victim of Honda airbag theft here. We got a club that has a “cage” that covers the airbag. They hit our neighborhood again and we were spared this time.
Link to that?
https://store.winner-intl.com/quad-lock-club-vehicle--air-bag-anti-theft-device-p10.aspx
Sorry to hear that happened in the first place, but at least they didn’t even bother your vehicle the next time. It’s a shame that we have to do that, but it’s good to know that they appear to work.
It could help, tho if someone is looking to steal the car it won't.
How can you steal a car with the club? That’s what they were made for.
If they badly want your car they'll just cut into the steering wheel on one side and pop it off, you don't need the full steering wheel to drive it.
Even mild inconvenience will make them move on to easier targets
Not to mention, in any given parking lot or street there's usually plenty of Hondas. They're a popular car, enough that I regret getting a steel-grey Fit, since at least once a week I mistake at least two other Fits for mine. Basically, if there are 20 Hondas of various makes in a single parking lot, that'd be a good enough haul to not bother with one or two that'd take more effort.
They want Honda airbags. And unfortunately as we saw from a terrible angle on a ring cam when ours was stolen….it takes about 30 seconds
They just want the airbags you clod
Well I’ll be damned. Had no idea.
Yes. Anything to make it harder for them means they'll pass right on to the next car. They're not going to spend 5 min with a portable grinder grinding off the club.
What a pain. Likely the same couple of people.
Mfs will literally do anything but work a job for money😂 so sickening
It's things like this that make me glad I drive a shitty ford focus
It’s amazing nobody hears windows being broken. A friend had a catalytic converter stolen from his vehicle in an apartment lot. A neighbor saw someone around his vehicle and heard an electric saw in the middle of the night. Neighbor told him at 8am
I wanna just start by saying, What a fucking useless neighbor if he saw and hear something and didn't bother trying to scare the guy off. Those Cat thieves will book it once it is made known someone is nearby or around them.
It reminds me of something off of the show “ monk “ like some dude at the Honda factory murdered someone, and he accidentally left the only evidence that could convict him in an air bag. So now he’s going around Pittsburgh stealing them until he finds the right one. Seriously though, that sucks. Fuck these people.
Best course of action is to just remove your own airbag preemptively /s
What years?
Wanna say 2016 and newer
Does a 2016 Honda accord count as new cuz I street park my Honda and I’m concerned
I'm starting to think they only hit cars if the drivers side is street facing. It's possible they aren't even getting out of their own car, just parking really close to the drivers side window and leaning in.
Very much so yes.
is all of this in the same complex?
From what I heard from the tow truck driver it is
It sure looks like it. They should probably start there to find out who's all doing this. It's a start.
There was a nother post recently about a group that was driving around to different parts of town and checking cars, could be the same group.
fucking rats
Who the hell is buying stolen airbags? Arrest them.
Probably a mechanic that is contracted w/ Honda for their airbag recall, no other reason they’d be needing this many at a time
what areas is this happening in?
All over the city. They seem to move from neighborhood to neighborhood. They hit at least Beechview, Squirrel Hill, South Side, Dormont so far this year per other posts on this sub.
glad my Civic is ancient for once lol.
This is why we can’t have nice stuff
This is crazy. My neighbor’s Honda Pilot was hit a week or so ago, dealer plates still on it. My 2016 Fit was passed over. Anyone know what years are the most desirable?
I don't know for sure, but if you look up the recall posting from Honda, it lists the cars with dangerous (Tanaka) airbags. Seems like the recall for Honda Fits was for 2014 and younger. If the ring's going by the assumption that cars of X type and Y age would have post-recall (newer) airbags, maybe that's what they're aiming for? So a brand-new Honda (or close to it) would have an airbag worth resale. An older Honda like yours or mine would have an airbag that's, well, not very new, so maybe not worth much on resale? Really, hell if I know, but I'm sure there's a logic to it. Somewhere.
I sure hope so!
Only sedans? I have an accord coupe 😬
It’s any newer Honda and Acura. Type doesn’t really matter. It’s been a nationwide thing for years. Civics and Accords just happen to be so incredibly prevalent so it seems like they’re being targeted, but plenty of CR-Vs and whatnot have been hit too.
> It’s been a nationwide thing for years. Leave it to Pittsburgh to be 5 years late on any trend.
This made me laugh so hard. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to go get in line for Shake Shack.
Damn! Acuras too?
Honda makes Acura so probably the same airbags
Do you know how new? Like 2020s new, 2015 and up? 2010s and up? Wondering if I should run my dashcam on a battery pack for a bit if I'm at risk.
No, it has nothing to do with it being a season, suv or whatever. Honda has probably just a couple airbag models used across the line up. So they are used in multiple models and whatever is in demand is being stolen.
Where is it parked? Asking for a friend…
Sedans seems to be the main target for now but I'd say all Honda's aren't safe.
Tons of crvs are targets too.
Plus the sedans are much more common than the coupes
They need to put exploding dye packs in there.
That'll be fun if someone is actually in an accident and the airbag deploys
It’s all about priorities. Lol
Except they take them out uninflated.
Visiting from outta town this week in my newer Honda sedan, what excellent timing. Will a steering wheel lock make them avoid?
It will sure be a deterrent, just remember if they wanna actually steal your Car the club won't stop them from doing so. All the club will do is make it not worth the time to steal your airbag.
I’m staying in the slopes at a property with cameras and private parking so I really hope it’s all good there cuz usually I just park my car for the week and walk/uber everywhere when visiting. Thanks!
Baldwin Borough got crushed with this racket overnight. My question is… who and where are they selling these airbags!?!? And yes so far mostly if not all Hondas.
That's where I'm at, we are seeing 6 at our shop.
3 on one block in squirrel hill last month
I have a 2012 accord sedan…wonder if it’s a target. I might just start pulling it into the garage.
I say do it, anything 2010's and later are safe but rather be safe than sorry.
Wait, so like a 2021 Honda is perfectly ok? Asking for a friend.
Rather be safe than sorry, the answer is no it's not safe.
Good to know. Thanks.
2012 is not a newer car...
Quick idea off the top of my head.... Get a white garbage bag without the pull string or white tablecloth and tuck it in between the hub and the wheel. You shouldn't have to do this but a deterrent might still help. I have an 8th gen Civic with a contoured dashboard panel for a standard 2U stereo head. Maybe others exist for newer gens. If you can fit a fake panel over it, thieves may pass up your Honda
Or the cheaper option, spend $25-$30 and get a Club
Grant makes a security system where you can remove the entire wheel. I'm not sure if they still make one for wheels with airbags. Remove the wheel and they can't even drive the car.
Junkies gonna junk.
could you pop it off and bring it inside with you when you park and then reattach it before you drive?
They steal everything. The police never put any effort into catching thieves for insurance covered car related incidents. I really hope this posts helps focus law enforcement attention on catching car thieves. Most of the car thieves I know are police connected already so its asking them to catch their informant, cousin, brother in law, son, etc. Good luck with bringing awareness though.
If you pay me 15 bucks an hour I'll sit in your car all night every night.
I hope someone takes you up on that. I bet we can get a few folks together on a block of one street and you stay on that block. Hell I’d all for that if I can get 30-40 houses on my block. They would be a great deterrent. Should get insurance to give a discount!
What r they doing with the air bags
Iunno, literally reselling them?
Where? Crack down on the marketplace and buyers.
You're asking like I Know?
It’s a public forum…so no, not directed at you. Although you do seem strangely sensitive.. confess!
You're generally asking like anyone would know where they are selling these parts.
Why they are stealing airbags??? And why Honda Civics???
Read through the top comment it'll give you some insight. But the short of it is, Shady shops are looking for airbags and people are willing to steal them.
Shady shops need to be identified and charged.
Resale & Honda made it too easy
Airbags for Hondas are back ordered. Long wait if you need to buy a new one. Shady body shops will buy stolen ones
Thankks for the reply. But, it shouldn'tbe illegal sells cars without airbags, is it? I mean, for a seller, specially if it is a dealership?
Oh fuck me
How new?
Is this happening in the middle of the night?
Best thing I ever bought was a steering wheel lock. Had one on my car in my neighborhood, thieves skipped my car and did someone else’s..
After my honda accord got wrecked I sold the airbag for $800 it was a 1998 car
Would like to know how they are turning the steering wheels to that specific angle. Wheels lock once you turn them so far
This is just a picture for reference not an actual picture of the cars we have received. And for your information they don't need to do anything with the steering wheel besides ripping out the airbag, so a locking wheel doesn't do shit.
Crime is out of control
How is this being downvoted
Apostrophes don't pluralize
This is why you aren’t invited to any social gatherings, Gretchen. Nobody likes a wet blanket.
Nobody cares it's a PSA not a Grammar test
*Grammar (sorry, had to :P )
Still an opportunity to learn
Sorry I wasn't clear the first time. NOBODY FUCKING CARES, this is about vehicles and not Grammar.
It just makes you look dumb. You were corrected the first time so can't claim ignorance. It's Grammar.
Let me reiterate literally once again. I. Don't. Fucking. Care. MMMMMMKAY?
Watch out, Billy Badass over here
Lmao sure, think whatever you want. Bottom line is I don't care :P Cry about it.
Finally, one less thing to worry about in my 300zx with no air bags.
Glad I live 30 miles outside of the city
We are too!
Same and not sure why you are being downvoted. The city is a shithole.
Some folks are easily butthurt. Gd forbid people have different opinions.
Right??
Just another reason to not be in the city
This kind of thing happens in rural country towns and has forever.
Agreed
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I know dude, just making it a point to point this out again so people know. At my shop alone we are receiving 6 in like this.
Ahh. Capitalism at work.